PlayStation Blogcast 105: Games of Future Past

We’re off and running with a special preview of our (and your!) most anticipated games of 2014. Also: I finally play Dark Souls, we share a new batch of voice mails, and dish out those oh-so-important new releases for next Tuesday, January 21st.

Oh man, the Mirror’s Edge platinum. I punched one of my controllers so hard going for that that a piece inside it chipped off and rattles around now. Probably the most difficult trophy I have.

Also, as far as Dark Souls goes, you should totally keep going at least until you get the Lordvessel, if you can’t make it all the way to the end. It’s kind of the half way point, but you’ll experience *a lot* of the world in doing so, and some really amazing parts of the game.

Not cool guys! You guys got me all excited to watch The Raid Redemption, but it’s not on Netflix. Hopefully it’s on Amazon Prime, I will check that next. I really hope it is or I will be forced to play Diablo 3 again. I really need a break from it, but my need to find sweet legendary gear is too much for me to withstand!

My top 5 are:
inFAMOUS Second Son, I loved the first two and Festival of Blood as well, and Sucker Punch can’t disappoint.
Borderlands 2 Vita, I really liked the first one when I had PS+ last year, I heard 2 is even better.
Indies (Oddworld, Helldivers, Mercenary Kings, Octodad, Volume, Hotline Miami 2 etc.).
The Order 1886, I love the Victorian Era, and RAD have made rad games before this.
Uncharted, I really loved 2 and 3, 1 was ehh…

YES Nick! EDF 2025! I thought there’s no way anyone’s going to mention this game. I’ve been waiting the entire PS3 generation for a true EDF sequel (Insect Armageddon was not a From Software title) and only Xbox got the them – until now! By far my most anticipated game this year even before the Drive Club, The Division etc.

I’ve also been waiting the entire PS3 generation for an Onimusha sequel – Capcom needs to get over Resident Evil, the franchise is dead.

supvic you do realize that Resident Evil isn’t “dead” simply because you don’t like it, right? An Onimusha game is in the works as well..not that it should be news for a “fan” of the games. Just a tip for the future, do not state that a franchise is “dead” when it is fiercely outselling the game you’re more interested in…it looks asinine.

A little advice to Sid and anyone who is still trying to get the hang of Dark Souls.

1. At first, spend all your souls (all of them) on your preferred weapon stat (do this even if you’re a Sorcerer, you’ll have plenty of time and souls to buy spells and upgrade your magic power later on). Killing is the key. Forget about Vitality, HP is the most useless stat in the whole game; it should be your very last priority. Once your Dex or Str is at a decent 16 or higher you can focus on other stats and shape up your character. 16 str is high enough to equip most good shields, and wield many good swords too. Dex weapons come cheap at 16 and lower, 14 dex opens up the Long Bow for you which I really recommended to anyone. Focus on Str/Dex, then Endurance, later on you could concentrate more in other major stats for your character like Faith or Intelligence. Just try not to deviate too much from 3 main stats; you’ll have a more rounded-up character this way.

2. Equipment > Level up. You should always go for empowering your weapon(s) and shield(s) as 1st priority. At
first your upgrades will be quite limited but they’ll make a huge difference, especially on your weapons if you took my advice above. Of course, sometimes you’ll fear you won’t make it to the blacksmith to spend your precious souls and will choose leveling up over losing them and that’s a wise choice, especially when in a Dungeon or area you don’t know well. However, after winning the big pot of souls by defeating a boss, backtrack to your nearest smith and invest on your equipment (a powerful shield is better than all the HP in the world).

3. Always know your way out. You step into new territory, you struggle, you get lost, you die a thousand times, you find some bonfires. You never know when you’ll get your butt handed to you (and good chances are it’ll happen), and you’ll need to back off and regroup or take another route. So try to explore the areas as much as you can bear because you’ll usually find a little shortcut that links your current area with another and it can make trips back and forth considerably shorter and less risky. This way you get to know where to get out and preserve any precious amount of souls you may have amassed while exploring, get to the blacksmith or a much needed vendor (always remember the wares on sale for each vendor, write them down, some of their items may come in handy). Always know where the nearest exit is. If you find the big Fog Gate and you’re carrying a good amount of souls, use a Homeward bone or backtrack to your last bonfire, be wise and it’ll save you lots of grief. It’s better to figure out first how to reach the Boss faster and safer.

PS3:
-Castlevania: Lord of Shadows 2
-FFX HD Remake )Would ave gotten the Vita version if FFX-2 was on a Card, don’t want to download it, if that’s the case I might just download 100% instead.)
-Gran Turismo 6 (Haven’t played yet)
-Final Fantasy XIII-3
-Tales Games
-Most games that I’ll play multi-player, because I support free online multi player even if I am a + member, I pay for the free games and extra discount and not online multi player.

Vita:
-Helldivers
-FFX (Not sure which version I’ll get)
-Ragnarok Odysees Ace
-Toukiden
-Bunch of digital download games
-Demon Gaze
-Muramasa
-I want more games on the Vita. We’d need more than just a God of War Game and a bunch of children games. I don’t have much to look forward to.
-64Gb Memory Cards, and a update to keep your games in same way you put in folders without having to sort out your bubbles.

My most anticipated release of 2014? Those freaking sweet colored DS4’s that Kaz Hirai confirmed would be out in the US before the end of 2013. That ship has sailed, across the Atlantic at least. Can we please get an update on when we can expect this already released peripheral to grace us here in North America?

Honorable mentions of course go to The Order: 1886 and inFAMOUS: Second Son. The Order might have made it into my top 5 if I actually knew something about the game/gameplay, other than the setting and that its a TPS. inFAMOUS is just too close to releasing for me to consider it in my “most anticipated”, cause it’s basically here already. I was anticipating it last year for sure, but now its release is soon upon us. Got the CE paid off and everything.

@ AC4:BF – Just had a tip I stumbled upon for boarding large enemy ships for anyone who is still checking this blog post. Sometimes one of the requirements is to destroy the enemy flag, but I seem to have no end of trouble trying to climb up their mast and dealing with the snipers up there. It just occurred to me that after killing enough enemy crew members and any officers or powder kegs needed, I could jump back onto my ship, use the lift to get up to my cross beams, then just run across the sail boards onto the enemy side and take out the sniper that way, rather than have him knock me off the platform when I try using the lift on the enemy ship. Not sure why it took me so long to figure this out, and hopefully this helps a few people who were as frustrated with this as I was.